The University of New Hampshire has been awarded a $700,000 grant from USDA to develop a computer model to help organic dairy farmers cut greenhouse gas emissions from their farms. The three-year study by scientists at UNH’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space will involve field measurements of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide in both traditional and organic dairy farming.

Researchers say greenhouse gas emissions on a dairy farm are affected by everything from the weather to the soil to the feed to cow burps. The idea is to create a computer model where producers can plug in the numbers for their own farm to make decisions on which practices to implement. The computer model will be tested at Stonyfield Farms in New Hampshire and Organic Valley in Wisconsin.